Okiedokie, I've decided to write up an extended version of the snippet I posted earlier. This
an official update.
In a small, cramped bedroom in the dwarven fortress of Spearbreakers, a little man was sitting on his bed. He was far too small to be a human; on the other hand, any dwarf would tell you that he was too tall and skinny to be a dwarf. The man had graying brown hair, a short, pointed beard, thick spectacles, and was dressed in what likely used to be a crisp white suit but was now mostly a filthy brown suit. His name -- or at least what he preferred to be referred to as -- was Mr Frog (no period, if you value your life at all).
In Mr Frog's hands was a black square object. He was staring at it, sucking on his lip, lost in thought. Every now and then, he would glance over at the room's stone door in the opposite wall nervously. He had, in fact, been doing so for several minutes prior to the intrusion of this narration. He was weighing his options; he had managed to worm himself into a very delicate situation, he knew exactly what he wanted out of it, and the slightest misstep could make the opportunity vanish like the memory of a pleasant dream (not that Mr Frog himself could actually remember what that was like; he hadn't had any pleasant dreams in a very long time).
Mr Frog finally seemed to come to a decision. He swung himself off the bed and walked the short distance to the door, making sure one last time that it had been sealed. Having done that, he returned to his bed and hunched over the black object protectively. He gently nudged a spot on its side and the front of the object suddenly shone in a glowing, intricately-detailed mosaic forming letters and coloured shapes.
Or, more concisely, he turned on a Portable Electronic Assistant and was now looking at the main interface.
Mr Frog poked at the screen a few times, then hesitated, frowning. He glanced around the room absentmindedly. He took a small metal flask out of his pocket, took a sip of its contents, and closed his eyes, his expression softening as he felt the sweet poison rush through his veins. Then he prodded the device's screen once more.
A pale, blond-haired man appeared on the screen -- Joseph. He had electric blue eyes and a perfectly-square jaw, a perfectly-straight nose, and perfectly-smooth, unblemished skin. Even the little details like his ears looked like they had been sculpted by an artist -- or, more likely, a particularly-skilled surgeon. Mr Frog found the man's appearance to be highly-unsettling; a face that perfect could not possibly be natural. It couldn't possibly be cheap, either.
Joseph smiled with expert precision, his perfectly-white teeth gleaming. "Ah, Mr Frog," he said cordially; "I trust that you've seen the light?"
"Y-yes," stammered Mr Frog; he took another sip from his flask and continued, much more calmly: "Yes, I have." "I understand the meaning of what you said to me, just as you said I would," he added; "All I want now is to carry your plan to completion." He figured that, when considering the kind of man he was dealing with, a bit of light ego-stroking couldn't possibly go amiss.
Joseph smiled with genuine joy -- or, at least, a close facsimile thereof; Mr Frog wasn't sure. So much about this man seemed like a façade -- a carefully-constructed sham to lure prey in. Joseph clapped quietly. "I'm delighted to hear that you've seen the light, Mr Frog!" he said brightly; he turned to the left and fiddled with something offscreen. "Mr Frog's on board," he called out; "Send an extraction team to pick him up. I'm sending the coordinates over now."
Joseph turned his attention back to Mr Frog, still smiling. "I'm certain you'll find our facilities to be more than up to your standards, Mr Frog," he said; "You will not regret this. A team will come and pick you up shortly; wait right where you are. We'll discuss things in more detail once you're secure." He looked down and moved his hand towards something below the screen, and immediately afterwards was replaced by a pale blue background with "CALL TERMINATED" printed on it in white.
Mr Frog sat there on his bed in silence for several minutes, his mind wandering. Everything appeared to be going smoothly so far. Joseph was by all appearances welcoming him in with open arms. Perfect. Perhaps this may even be easy.
Some more time passed. Nothing of note happened.
"Mr. Frog, is it? Joseph sent us," said a voice from behind Mr Frog. He flinched and spun around, his left eye twitching furiously. Behind him were three people -- one male, taller than Mr Frog, one a female about Mr Frog's size, and the third a diminutive blue-skinned humanoid that he couldn't identify.
"No period, dammit!" barked Mr Frog angrily; the little blue person squeaked and jumped back an inch or so. All three of the interlopers appeared to be carrying small sidearms, though Mr Frog knew better then to judge a weapon's potency by its size. Behind them was a hole in space. A building surrounded by well-mowed grass could be seen through it.
The man blinked confusedly for a moment, then understood. "My apologies," said the man evenly. "I would appreciate it if you would remain quiet, however," he continued pointedly. He motioned towards the wormhole; "Please come with us."
Mr Frog glared at the man once more, for good measure, then obediently got off of his bed -- slipping the PEA into his pocket -- and followed the three through the wormhole. He stepped very carefully across the boundary; he had seen what happened to careless people who accidentally placed a part of their body across the edge of the portal, and it wasn't pretty. Having one's foot sliced in half at the quantum level wasn't much fun.
"This is Eris, Mr. Frog," said the man (Mr Frog stared at the back of the man's head lividly); "Or, at least, part of it."
Mr Frog looked up at the building. It was surprisingly-pretty, for those who cared about that sort of thing. It was a pristine white, and the architecture was vaguely-reminiscent of a seashell. Beautifully-manicured green bushes dotted the perimeter. The sky was blue and dotted with small, puffy clouds. A clean, gently curving concrete path lead from where he was standing to what Mr Frog assumed was the front gate.
Mr Frog didn't like it. It was like Joseph in a way -- so precisely-picture-perfect that it raised the question of just why in the hell anyone would bother making the effort.
Mr Frog looked to the left; what he saw managed to unsettle him slightly. Off in the distance, he could see himself, the people in front of him, the path he was standing on, and a small machine immediately behind him. The scene repeated itself further off, and once more even further off, and so on ad infinitum, growing smaller and fainter with each iteration until Mr Frog could no longer make out anything. Mr Frog brought his attention back to the building. So it was a pocket universe. He glanced backwards at the machine behind him; it looked to be a wormhole tunneler. Probably just the working end of it; the power cell and other associated apparati were likely buried under his feet.
"Coming, Mr. Frog?" said the man. Mr Frog gave him a death glare and followed along the path behind him and his cohorts. He looked up again at the sky as he walked; it appeared to be a giant screen. He wasn't sure how it was being held aloft; there didn't appear to be any supports.
The four went through the glass doors into what appeared to be a small lobby. Another person -- very clearly female, from the looks of it, but with purple-blue skin and what appeared to be tentacles in place of hair -- was standing in the middle, a pleasant smile on her face. A small rug covered the white tiles. The walls were green and decorated with a couple generic paintings of landscapes (nobody knows who paints these, only that they are present in every waiting room and office known to society). A small white door was set into the opposite wall. Mr Frog noted that there was no reception desk -- anyone who made it to this room was by definition expected to be there. A white camera hung from the ceiling in a far corner.
The man motioned towards the strange woman. "Silena will take it from here," he said. The three walked across the room to the door and went through.
Silena approached Mr Frog, holding out a hand. "Welcome to Eris, Mr Frog," she said cheerily; "Joseph's told us about you. We're pleased to have you on board."
Mr Frog shook her hand and smiled back at her. Secretly, he sized her up, analyzing her for any sort of red flags. She seemed sincere; Mr Frog supposed that, in any other situation, he wouldn't doubt her intentions in the slightest. Something about this place, however, set him on edge. It was too nice for something so shady. They even had a perky receptionist.
"Let me give you the grand tour," said Silena playfully. She walked towards the door, motioning for Mr Frog to follow.
"I'd be honoured," said Mr Frog. She opened the door for him and he went through, Silena scurrying up in front of him.
This isn't quite the end of this post; I'd like some time to mull over the structure of the facility. I'll edit the rest in below if/when I finish.
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Topic: [34.11] Spearbreakers - It shudders and begins to move (Read 2196109 times)